Spike.



C. D. RUSSELL.

. A P P L C A T l 0 N F l L E D M A R 4.1918. 1,301 ,173, Patented Apr. 22,1919.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES D. RUSSELL, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

SPIKE.

Application filed March 4, 1918.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES D. RUssELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota, have invented new and useful Improvements in Spikes, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to efiiciently and economicallysecure the rails to the ties in railwayconstruction.

A further object is to produce an improved spike adapted in use to interlock with and hold the surrounding compressed and severed wood fibers of the ties in which it is embedded, and thereby successfully re- Sist incidental and accidental forces tending to loosen or withdraw the spike from the timber, but which may, nevertheless, be removed When desired without unnecessarily shredding the surrounding wood fibers.

More particularly my object is to provide a commercially-practical railroad s ike having such characteristics, but whic unlike those heretofore devised, may be economically rolled from bar steel and from a smaller amount of material.

A further object is to furnish an article,

embodying the foregoing features, which is adapted to compress the wood fibers at each longitudinal edge of the shank of the spike, whereby said spike is secure against twisting, and is more tightly gripped by the surrounding fibers.

.These and other objects will more fully hereinafter appear in the specification and be pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved spike; Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal central section of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a top plan of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a section on the line 44; of Fig. 3.; and Fig. 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal section illustrating a modified form of my construction.

Referring to the drawings, I have used the reference numeral 10 to designate the shank of my improved spike, whose oppo-v Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 22, 1919.

Serial No. 220,179.

l0 converge uniformly at the end opposite the head 11 to provide a chisel driving edge 12. A symmetrical convergence of the side surfaces of the shank 10 adjacent the edge 12 reduces the length of such chisel edge to substantially less than the width of the body of the shank 10 (Fig. 3), to provide for the compression of the Wood fibers at each longitudinal edge of the shank, as hereinafter described. A longitudinal concave channel 13 is formed in each side of the shank 10 and extends from an end of the chisel edge 12 to near the upper end of the shank.

In the front and rear surfaces of the shank 10 are formed series of spaced recesses or mortises 14. Said mortises are identical in contour and each in its preferred embodiment comprises a rectangular depression having parallel flat side walls 15 and inwardly convergent fiat end walls 16, separated by integral webs 17, of angular profile, the upper faces of which are flush with the surface of the shank 10. Said series of mortises may extend throughout the entire length of the front and rear surfaces of the shank, but are preferably terminated at a short distance from each extremity of the spike, as shown.

While I prefer to construct the mortises in my improved spike with oblique end walls 16, as above stated, I consider that a device corresponding in other respects to my preferred construction but having curved, as distinguished from oblique, end walls 18 (Fig. 5), merging into the webs 17 is within the spirit of my invention, and such embodiment is pointedout in the broader claims of my application.

In use, the spike is driven into arailway tie or other timber with the chisel edge 12 crossing the wood fibers. The sharp edge severs the fibers, the ends of which are bent downwardly and compressed lengthwise by the swelling of the front and rear surfaces of the shank above the edge 12. When the spike is driven home and the offset head 11 overlaps and grips the flange of the rail, or other object to be secured thereby, the ends of said bent and severed portions of the fibers lying opposite the mortises 14 expand and spring into said mortises, and hold the webs 17, in which position said expanded and contacting fibers in effect constitute tenons interlocking with the mortises 1,4. Simultaneously with the be ding downward of the severed wood fibers by the swelling shank, as above described, the flaring or slightly divergent ends of the channeled sides of the spike compress the wood fibers at each corner of the shank, and the uncompressed portions of said uncut fibers, which lie adj acent the concave channels, project into and occupy said concavities. It is thus apparent that the binding action of the compressed uncut fibers at each longitudinal edge of the shank, co-acting with the uncompressed portions of such fibers which occupy the channels 13, prevents twistlng of the spikes either by unequal pressure of the surrounding fibers or by external forces, and more effectually grips the shank 10 to prevent its withdrawal.

A much greater force will be required to loosen or withdraw the spike when embedded in a tie than would be required if the front and rear surfaces thereof were plain, or even undulating, since in such withdrawal it is necessary for the Webs 17, formed with oblique walls, to bend the overlapping wood fibers or tenons upwardly, and it is to be noted that the angle of junction between the surfaces of the walls 16 and the face of the webs 17 is not sufficiently sharp to cut or shred the overlapped fibers to any appreciable extent, when thespike is removed. curved or undulating surface, as distinguished from my angular mortises and webs, resists less effectually the loosening or withdrawal of a spike, since they pass the abutting wood fibers with greatly reduced friction by reason of the elimination of the angular profile of the webs 17, and such undulations tend to compress said abutting fibers endwise, rather than bend them upward as in my construction. My form of spike is also adapted to easier and more economical production in the rolling mills than a spike with longitudinal curves or undulations.

Having described .my invention, What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. In a spike, a shank, a head on one end of said shank, a driving edge at the opposite end of said shank, longitudinal channels in the side surfaces of said shank, and a series of spaced mortises in the front and rear surfaces of the shank, said mortises each comprising a quadrilateral depression having parallel side walls and inwardly converging end walls.

2. In a spike, a shank, a head on one'end of said shank, a chisel edge at the opposite end of said shank formed by the convergence of the front and rear surfaces of the shank, and a series of spaced mortises in said front and rear surfaces, said mortises each comprising a quadrilateral depression having parallel side walls and inwardly convergent flat end walls. p V

3. In a spike, a shank rectangular in section having parallel surfaces, a head on one end'ofsaid shank, a chisel edge at the opposite end of said shank formed by the convergence of thefront and rear surfaces of the shank, said chisel edge being shorter than the width of said shank, longitudinal concave channels in the side surfaces of said shank, said channels extending from each end of said chisel edge to a point adjacent said head, a series of mortises in said front and rear surfaces, said mortises each comprising a quadrilateral depression having parallel side walls and inwardly convergent end walls, and webs between said mortises, the outer surfaces of said webs being flush with the outer surfaces of said shank.

4. In a spike, a shank, a head on one end of said shank, a chisel edge at the opposite end of said shankformed by the convergence of the front and rear surfaces of the shank, said chisel edge being shorter than the width of said shank, longitudinal concave channels in the side surfaces of said shank,

said channels extending from each end of said chisel edge to a point adjacent said 'head, a series of mortises in said front and channels in the side surfaces of said shank,

a series of mortises in said front. and rear surfaces, said mortises each comprising a quadrilateral depression" having parallel side walls and flat bottoms, and webs between said mortises, said webs having angular profiles and outer surfaces alined with each other and with the outer surface of said shank adjacent to said head and point.

6. In a spike. a shank, substantially rectangular in section, having parallel surfaces, 21- head on one end of said shank, a chisel edge atthe opposite end of said shank formed by the convergence of the front and rear surfaces of the shank, longitudinal concave channels in the side surfaces of the shank. said channels extending, from each end of said chisel edge to a point adjacent said head, and a series offiat bottomed spaced mortises in saidfront and rear sur- 7. In a spike, a shank-comprising a parsides of said parallelepiped adjacent each Webs separating said mortises, the outer surend of said edge flarin toward said head, a faces of said webs lying flush with the outer pair of concave paral lel channels, one in surfaces of said shank. 10 each of said sides extending from each end Whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my of said chisel edge toward said head, a series name to the spec1fieat1on.

of spaced flat bottomed mortises in the front and rear surfaces of said shank, and angular CHARLES D. RUSSELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). 0. 

